Friday, September 01, 2006

Weekend in Gator Nation

I've never really been a sports-gambler, though I respect and admire those who are -- and as a "Wisdom of Crowds" devotee, I appreciate the aggregate wisdom of the betting line.

Last night, I was out with a couple of sports-writing types, and one of them (whose college football opinion I really respect) pointed out that USC was a 9-point favorite at Arkansas. "ONLY" a 9-point favorite, I should say.

This writer was convinced this was the mistake of the week – that USC was going to easily cover.

Again, I'm not a sports gambler, so I'm not endorsing this. I just found it interesting that there seemed to be such a discount toward USC (and apparent inflation of Arkansas).

But what it's done is intrigue me enough to try to pick Top 25 games against the spread – just for fun. I know I've got my "Daily Quickie Readers" College Pick 'Em group on ESPN.com, but that's not against the spread. Maybe I'll just keep track of it on the side.

Meanwhile, I'm off to Gainesvillewith Margery and Gabe for an in-law family function. The trip wouldn't be complete without going to the Gators' home opener tomorrow night at the Swamp – by far the best college football environment I've ever experienced.

It'll also be Gabe's indoctrination to Gator Nation. Yikes. Hopefully, I'll have a few photos of that next week.

(I'm enjoying the blog so much that I'm going to try to post over the weekend from the road.)

Have a great long weekend, and I can't thank all of you enough for your support this week. (The comments are great.) We're off to a great start!

I like the idea of a top 25 game versus the spread. I got my taste of sports betting in Vegas last year so I keep up on the numbers just out of fascination. It might be interesting to watch the numbers change and fluctuate over time.

I hope that after you have been blinded by "big-time" college football, you'll actually take some time to watch some mid-major football.

Namely, the MAC. You regularly dissed the MAC in the DQ, and if you watched Central Michigan's valiant effort vs. Boston College, or the 3OT game between Iowa State and Toledo, you'd see that the MAC Daddies can hang with the big boys ... and not just be their whipping boys every year.

When my Huskies of NIU play Ohio State tomorrow, I will be rooting for them, not just because I am an alum, but because a win over the #1 team in the country, coupled with the amazing run the team has had the past four years, might actually get people to realize that "big-time" college football is anywhere there is a good team ... not just in South Bend or Happy Valley.

OK, so I'm facing just the sort of the dilemma the MQ was made for. What's the protocol for wearing a "Basketball National Champs" shirt to the game today? Since the shirts they gave us are... um... inaccurate, I guess the basketball one will work.

I am from Arkansas and I do bet on football games, and I don't think Arkansas has a chance. Everyone I have talked to in central Arkansas feels the same way. It's not too late to make some money on tonight's game. Before I saw the line, I thought Arkansas would consider the game a victory if they were lucky enough to lose by 2 touchdowns. An 8 point spread? I'll give the points gladly.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.